WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT.

David Young's next step

At HotHouse, he impresses with control and depth

April 28, 2001|By Howard Reich, Tribune arts critic.

Even beyond the clarion tone and emotional intensity of his playing, David Young stands apart from other emerging trumpeters.

The seriousness of his attitude, the expressive range of his sound and the melodic sweep of his compositions point to a young musician with a great deal to say. What's more, he possesses the technical tools with which to say it.

That's not to assert that Young, Thursday evening at HotHouse, has mastered the arts of jazz improvisation and composition. At 21, he's really just embarking on his journey of musical self-discovery.

But the Chicago trumpeter already is so far ahead of many young players who record for major labels that one can't help feeling optimistic about his future. With a few years on the road as bandleader, Young could ascend as the next important trumpeter in a recent lineage that has included Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton.

Even now, as an undergraduate at Northwestern University's School of Music, Young is shaping a sound and aesthetic philosophy of his own. Unabashedly melodic and openly communicative, Young's music consciously reaches out to listeners in direct and visceral ways. More than that, Young is uninterested in revisiting well-worn jazz standards or in observing traditional song structures.

Instead, Young cast his HotHouse performance as a single suite, with one movement leading seamlessly into the next. Thus the large audience heard an original, hour-long, meticulously composed work that nevertheless accommodated improvised solos.

Perhaps some listeners considered this slightly self-dramatizing, emotionally uninhibited playing an indication of the trumpeter's youth. But at his best, as in the funeral march finale to the suite, Young showed a degree of tonal control and depth of expression that one sooner expects of more seasoned players.

Most impressiveof all, Young has created an ensemble -- New Republic -- that elegantly mirrors his musical values, with each instrumentalist offering an individual response to Young's nearly ecstatic lyricism. Alto saxophonist Dennis Winslett brought welcome harmonic complexity and tonal grit to the proceedings, while drummer Kobie Watkins proved adroit with sticks and sensitive with mallets.

There's no predicting how Young will develop this music in coming years. But the listeners who convened at HotHouse probably will remember this night as a great beginning for one of the most exciting young players in jazz.